Mr. Speaker, I rise today to draw attention to the increasingly difficult position Canadian farmers face as a result of massive foreign agricultural subsidies. It is clear that the Canadian government must take a stronger stand in WTO negotiations on agriculture, especially with regard to tariffs.

A new study prepared by trade expert Peter Clark for Dairy Farmers of Canada suggests that the current WTO agricultural negotiating framework will not ease the imbalances among participating countries.

For example the new study demonstrates that U.S. dairy farmers had access to $13.8 billion U.S. in direct and indirect support in 2003, meaning they can get about 40% of their income from federal, state and local government subsidies. These subsidies effectively limit access to the U.S. market. The U.S. advocates tariff cuts because it can limit access while trying to increase U.S. exports to other markets.

I urge our government to continue our fight for fairness for Canadian farmers.

Mr. Speaker, in this lovely spring season of renewal we look forward to a renewal of democracy in our great nation.

A dishonest and unworthy Liberal government can soon be replaced by a Conservative administration committed to repairing trust in Canada's democratic institutions.

The Constitution stipulates that no government is legitimate unless it secures the confidence of a majority in the House of Commons. The Liberal government thumbs its nose at our Constitution and refuses to respect our democratic traditions in its desperation to cling to power.

The Liberals have shown a frightening contempt for the democratic rights of this House. What further damage will they be willing to inflict as they struggle to keep their privileged position?

Liberals know they no longer hold the consent of the House to represent our country. I call on the government to show a flicker of honour and immediately allow Canadians the right to--

Mr. Speaker, last June Canadians went to the polls to elect the current members of the House.

As elected officials, we are responsible to our constituents and people therefore expect us to make an effort to work together for the good of the country.

As legislators, we have a host of critical issues: the environment, child care, social housing, municipal infrastructure, all of which are national priorities.

It has been less than a year since Canadians went to the polls to cast their ballots, yet opposition members belonging to the Conservative-Bloc Québécois alliance are determined to derail any attempt to make this Parliament work. All of this comes at the expense of our constituents.

I have been knocking on doors in Don Valley East and the overwhelming majority of my constituents do not want another election at this time. It is my sincere hope that we can put political grandstanding aside and put people before politics.

Like a crazed ocean liner, this Liberal shipSpins, retreats and starts to flipAdrift in a storm of motions, corruption and judgeshipThis vessel is about to tipHas Titanic hit the iceberg of democracyThis monstrous boat that perverted bureaucracy?Or is this Rimbaud's drunken boat, minus the poetryThis red ship capsizing from patronage and hypocrisy?

The captain, whose name we will not mentionDeserves neither the title nor the positionThis time, the islands will not save his commissionEven if tax havens were once his mission.But this ship, which is trying hard to stay afloatAnd is counting on a favourable wind and voteShould accept the now inevitable demoteBecause, win or lose, that's all she wroteThe Liberal ship has run aground, take note.

Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver caused by viral infection. There are several types of the disease and some have the potential of developing into chronic health illness.

The newly created Public Health Agency of Canada is the leader on federal hepatitis C activities. The hepatitis C prevention, support and research program operates under the agency and continues to strengthen federal leadership in these areas.

It is estimated that a quarter million people in Canada are currently living with hepatitis C and approximately 90,000 of these Canadians do not even know they are infected.

Raising awareness of hepatitis and its potential impact on the health and well-being of all Canadians is imperative and I urge my colleagues to join me in raising awareness during Hepatitis Awareness Month.

Mr. Speaker, “It is a firm constitutional convention that prime ministers must either resign or call an election if they lose the confidence of the House”. So says professor and constitutional expert Andrew Heard. A constitutional matter is a basic matter of the rule of law.

That, in all its simplicity, is what we are debating in this House. That is the basis for our democracy. By ignoring a confidence motion of this House, the government is flouting the rule of law. It is ignoring the basic principles of representative and responsible government, and is expressing contempt for the electoral choices of the people of Canada. It has decided that power is more important than principle and that might is more important than right. The government has lost the constitutional right to govern and in choosing to ignore that loss, it has also forfeited the moral right to govern.

It is a truism that power corrupts and that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Nothing is more corrupt than ignoring the rule of the law and the voice of the people. The government is illegitimate and must resign.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate and recognize a great athlete in my riding of Halton. Ed Whitlock is a truly remarkable man.

At the age of 74, Mr. Whitlock, a marathon runner from Milton, participated in the Rotterdam marathon in the Netherlands on April 10. Not only did Ed complete this race but, for the third time since turning 70, he broke the three hour barrier in the marathon, crossing the line in 2 hours, 58 minutes and 40 seconds, and was one of 9,000 runners to complete the race. This is truly a remarkable achievement.

Ed Whitlock is a hard-working, dedicated trainer who enjoys his three hour daily runs in Milton. He is a member of the Milton Runners. I would like to extend my congratulations to Ed on a well-run race and on being a dedicated and courageous Milton runner.

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has 3,500 jobs to offer as gifts to friends of the regime.

The Prime Minister appoints senators; he appoints returning officers in all 308 ridings; he appoints the governor general; he appoints provincial lieutenant governors; he appoints the chief justice of the Supreme Court; he appoints the justices of the Supreme Court; he appoints the head of the country's armed forces. Until recently, he even appointed his own ethics commissioner. He has over 1,000 other jobs in the legal sector under his control as well.

It is high time that this profusion of partisan appointments ended. When is he going to start giving priority to merit rather than political allegiance?

Mr. Speaker, the people of Dartmouth--Cole Harbour, like all Canadians, are concerned about crime, especially after a spate of swarmings and other offences.

Our government recognizes that Canadians see youth crime in particular as an important issue. Canadians have the right to feel safe and secure in their homes and communities. They also want a fair youth justice system that seeks constructive responses to youth crime.

Our youth justice system must reinforce social values and also give youth every opportunity to become productive, responsible citizens, while understanding their responsibility to society.

We also need to ensure that the system commands respect, fosters values, such as accountability and responsibility, and makes it clear that criminal behaviour will lead to meaningful consequence.

All members of this House should continue to listen to the concerns of their constituents so that as we move forward we can ensure that our laws are consistent with our community values and provide meaningful deterrent and punishment for those who choose to offend.

Mr. Speaker, in 1838 Lord Durham, on commission from Queen Victoria, wrote that in order to maintain stability in the Canadian colonies, the government must be held accountable to the people who elect it by retaining the confidence of the House. This principle of responsible government is the democratic foundation upon which this country was founded.

The Prime Minister is no longer governing with the consent of the governed, which is the traditional test of legitimacy according to our Constitution. His attempts to delay another confidence motion mocks our democracy, smacks of desperation and underlies the lack of legitimacy of his government.

Political legitimacy is delegated in the highest regard to this House by the citizens of this country. To retain any authority to govern that he might once have had, the Prime Minister must table a confidence motion that can be voted upon by all representatives of the people, not just at his own convenience.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today on an issue of critical importance to my province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

On January 28 the Prime Minister delivered on his promise to make Newfoundland and Labrador the main beneficiary of our offshore oil and gas. It is a deal worth more than $2 billion to our province.

The hon. members for St. John's East and St. John's South--Mount Pearl promised to support the Atlantic accord, even if it meant breaking ranks with their party. In a recent article in the St. John's Telegram , the member for St. John's South--Mount Pearl stated:

You cannot ever turn your back on your province on an important issue like this, even if it meant your party says, tough stuff, you have to sit in the last seat, last row.

Today, the Atlantic accord is in serious jeopardy as a result of the new partnership of the Conservatives and the Bloc, the separatist party.

The hon. members opposite from Newfoundland and Labrador promised to support the deal and now they are going back on their word. This is a gigantic flip-flop, the likes of which people in our province have never seen before.

Mr. Speaker, whereas the large majority of the world's democracies have some form of proportional representation, and whereas leading members of the Commonwealth including Scotland, Ireland, Wales, New Zealand and Australia have also embodied some form of PR, and whereas electoral systems that include PR have much better representation of women and visible minorities as well as better regional representation of caucuses, we must resolve that Canada catch up with democratic reform.

Specifically, the House of Commons committee considering electoral reform next week must recommend a reform process with a completion date by the end of the year.

It is the last chance for this committee to meet its obligation to establish a process that involves a form of citizen engagement and parliamentarians, and that will lead to an electoral system that embodies individual constituencies and proportional representation.

Mr. Speaker, Canada is seen as a beacon of democracy across the globe. Sadly this beacon has started to flicker. As Wednesday's Globe and Mail editorial stated:

[The] Liberal government has lost the confidence of the House of Commons. The Liberals may dance on the head of a pin to deny that fact...But the inescapable reality is that a majority of voting MPs in the Commons have served notice that they have no confidence in the sitting government and wish an election

The Liberal government has lost the moral, financial and now the constitutional authority to govern. It is imperative that we put this matter to the people as soon as possible, on Monday. A government should never run from the people. As the official opposition we can no longer support a government which has shown to be corrupt, fiscally irresponsible and blatantly undemocratic.

We in the Conservative Party of Canada stand ready to give Canadians the good, honest government they deserve. Canadians have had enough and they want us to stand up for Canada.